Europ. Countrys. · Vol. 12 · 2020 · No. 4 · p. 568-597 DOI: 10.2478/euco-2020-0030 European Countryside MENDELU TOURISM, DEVELOPMENT AND PROTECTED AREAS: DECONSTRUCTING THE MYTH Mª Luisa Gómez Moreno1, Luis Miguel Rubio Barquero2 1 Prof. María-Luisa Gómez-Moreno, Department of Geography, University of Málaga, Campus de Teatinos 29070 Málaga, Spain; email:
[email protected], ORCID: 0000-0002-4464-0187 2 Luis Miguel Rubio Barquero, Doctoral candidate, University of Málaga, Campus de Teatinos 29070 Málaga, Spain;
[email protected], ORCID: 0000-0003-4314-1244 568/648 Received 26 May 2020, Revised 14 September 2020, Accepted 27 September 2020 Abstract: The relation between tourism and rural development has been strengthened by planning frameworks such as rural development (the LEADER programmes) and by the management of protected natural areas. This relation also contributes to the concept of the multifunctionality of agricultural land. However, in the management of protected areas in Spain, the role of tourism and the public use of areas of maximum protection are often prioritised to the detriment of the agrarian societies with a permanent presence in these surroundings. In this paper, we analyse the impact of environmental planning and rural development on the characterisation of private tourist services in the Sierra de las Nieves natural park (near Málaga, Spain), using statistical sources, surveys and interviews with stakeholders. The results obtained show that the geographic distribution of private facilities is largely unrelated to public considerations. We view this outcome as a consequence of the disjunction between the agrarian traditions of local society and the new measures adopted to promote tourist activities.